Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Wordless Wednesday - Peek A Boo

Monday, November 22, 2010

Words Lola Knows

We all know dogs are very smart. And I have to think that all of our dogs know certain works besides commands.  Lola knows some too.

WALK!!?!
That is a big one.  I can just say walk and she is up and ready to go.



EAT!
Of course Lola would know the word eat.  She is always ready and will not pass up food. 

CAR! Want to go for a ride?
When she hears this, she knows she gets to go somewhere.  And where ever it is, she is happy to go



PARK!
When I say park, Lola knows exactly where to turn and go to get to the park.  She loves the park.

SQUIRREL!
And of course Lola knows the word squirrel.  When she hears that word she is on full alert and ready to hunt.



Lola also knows the names of her buddies.  I can so "Otis" or "Nina" and she will get so excited.  She has to know it means play time.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Commands Lola Knows

When Lola was a puppy I put her in obedience training.  And we still continue to use some of that training. 

SIT
I think this is one of the first commands that is learned by most dogs.  And Lola has this one down.  She knows she has to sit before she gets her food or a treat.  I make her sit before we cross streets when we are walking.  And  I make her sit before somebody can come up and pet her on a walk.



DOWN and SETTLE
These two go hand and hand.  Down is lay down. She only knows this from a sitting position, but hey, she still knows it.  I use this one when I am giving her treats are trying to get her to relax.  And the settle, is adjusting so her legs are in a more comfortable position.  I also use this one when I am giving her treats.
 



WAIT
This is one I use before she can eat.  She has to wait and when I say ok, then she can eat.  I also use wait on walks a lot.  If I am cleaning up after her, or there is a dog in front of us, I will tell her to wait.  She knows she can still sniff and look around but she cannot continue walking.


STAY
This one is pretty obvious.  She must stay until she is released.  I will use this with treats or walking if there is another dog coming towards us.


LEAVE IT
Leave it is a big one and she is really good at it.  I use it when I drop something that I don't want her to eat, like a pill, and on walks.

IN
In I taught her myself.  When we go for I ride, she does not get in the car until I tell her.  And that is when I say "IN" and motion in with my arm, and in she goes.



What other commands does your dog know?

Monday, November 8, 2010

Weekend Walk

It has been so nice here lately, it was in the 70s both Saturday and Sunday.  With this nice weather it made for some great weekend morning walks.  It was warm enough that all I needed was a light sweatshirt.  And Lola loved the nice weather too.


It has been so warm here, and there are still plenty of trees with leaves on them.  And I love the way the leaves look on the ground.  And the sound they make when you walk over them.



And there are plenty of trees that have lost all their leaves too.  It makes me kind of sad.  They look so bare and empty.


But the bare trees make it much easier to search for and chase squirrels.


And running and crunching through the leaves is so much fun.



And it was so nice that when we got home Lola when out on the porch to enjoy the nice weather before the snow that is reported to be coming this weekend.  I think Lola could sense it wanted to spend most of the weekend outside.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Fall Back

Daylight saving time ends Sunday at 2:00 AM. So don't forget to set you calls back tonight at 2:00 AM.  Or before you go to bed, which ever is easier.  Obviously, we will not be waking up at 2 AM to set our clocks back.  I am sure we will be fast asleep and we will enjoy our extra hour of sleep as well.

And now on to the Blog hop



Friday, November 5, 2010

Neighborhood Friends

One thing I love about having a dog is the fact that I pretty  much have to get up and take Lola for a walk.  And one think I have loved about our walks is meeting people in our neighborhood.  I don't know about you, but it can be hard to meet all the neighbors.  It seems like you usually meet a few people right next door or across the street, but it is hard to meet people a couple blocks over.  And to top it off, I get home from work and just want to relax, not go knocking on doors to meet people.  And they may think that is a little strange.

I have found with Lola, it has been very easy to meet new people in the neighborhood.  I mean really how could this face not make you smile.



Lola has a few buddies in the neighborhood, an English bulldog, Lulu, (who ignores her for the most part, but Lola loves her), a Saint Bernard, Jake, (they love chasing each other) and a couple boxers, Flin and Nina.  The best is when they all get together.  They all have a great time.  Lola can spot them a mile away and gets so excited when she knows her buddies are out. 

I think I see my friends!  Time to play!

Lola also loves seeing her human buddies.  She knows exactly where all of them live.  (There is even one couple that is nice enough to buy dog biscuits for the whole neighborhood, even though they don't have any dogs.)  She will stop in front of each of their house to see if they are home and want to come say hi.

Are you there?!  I want to say HI!!

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Doggie Bloggie Award

Thanks to Rescued Insanity for giving us the Doggie Bloggie Award!!  We could not be more honored!  And I love what was written about Lola, "It sounds like Lola and Shiva may have a lot in common."  It is always good to know that there are others out there that have gone through the same thing and understand. 



Here are the rules of the Doggie Bloggie Award:
1) Thank the person who gave the award and link to them.
2) Name 10 things about yourself-creative, weird, enticing, whatever.
3) Award 15 doggie bloggers-whoever you think deserves this regardless of whether they are old or new.
4) Share the love with the doggie bloggers you award by commenting on their site.
5) Finally, have a great time! After all, doggies are nothing if not fun!


Here are the 15 doggie bloggers I am passing this on to.  And they are in no particular order.  They are all great entertaining blogs. 
Maggie Mae
The Portuguese Water Blog 
Babies and Beasts
Dear Human Society Dog Blog
Dog is God in Reverse
Levi Mac
Murphy's Law
Scout's Dog Blog
Oh My Dog!


Here are the 10 things about myself.
1.  I am a numbers girl.  I love tracking and graphing things to see how things change. I know I am a nerd, but I just loving tracking things with numbers because you can learn so much from it.

2. I love craigslist.  For the past 2 to 3 years, I have been going through all my crap stuff and sold so many different things on craigslist, from clothes to games to electronics, and everything in between.  

3.  I love the company and people I work for.  I work with some very strong personalities but  we all seem to fit together like a puzzle and have a great time together, even when we are working.

4.  I love to read. And I read a huge variety.  Everything from Harry Potter (which I LOVE), the Shopaholic series when I need something fun and quick, more serious and in depth novels, and non-fiction, including math and science, economics and history.  I feel like there is so much to learn out there and books are a great way to learn new things. 

5.  I just started doing volunteer work this fall that benefits woman and children in my community.  I have had such a good life and have had more than I could ever want and need as a child, so I thought it was important that I give back to the community in some way.  And so far I am really enjoying it.

6.  I LOVE swagbucks.com.  I love getting free money for just using their search engine. 

7.  I usually read the blogs I follow in google reader.  I have separate folders set up and read them in a very specific order.  I know it is very strange.  I think it maybe my little bit of OCD. 

8.  I am a horrible spell.  And I mean horrible.  I am so grateful that there is now spell check.  I don't know what I would do if I did not have it.  So, I you see anything misspelled in my post (and I am sure there has to be some) please give me a pass. 

9.  I am a huge Cubs fan, (Yankees are my second team) and I know next year will be our year. 

10.  And if you have made it this far, I thank you.  I only had 11 posts last month, so I am going to work much harder on posting more this month. 

Monday, November 1, 2010

Voting Time

It is that time of year again.  Time to vote.  And if your area is anything like my area, there is an onslaught of campaign commercials.  And if you are like me, they are probably driving you crazy and you cannot wait for election day so you no longer have to hear or watch them.

I received a mail in ballot, and completed it last week.  I  know there are a lot of things going on in politics right now and I think it is important to get out there and vote for who you think will do better for our country.